Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a severely economically distressed community that receives assistance from the Corporation for any program under the national service laws shall not be subject to any requirements to provide matching funds for any such program, and the Federal share of such assistance for such a community may be 100 percent.

(b) Severely economically distressed community

For the purposes of this section, the term “severely economically distressed community” means—

(1)an area that has a mortgage foreclosure rate, home price decline, and unemployment rate all of which are above the national average for such rates or level, for the most recent 12 months for which satisfactory data are available; or

(2)a residential area that lacks basic living necessities, such as water and sewer systems, electricity, paved roads, and safe, sanitary housing.